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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1983)
# About Books: Report On The Shroud PAGE 15—The Georgia Bulletin, August 18,1983 REPORT ON THE SHROUD OF TURIN by Dr. John H. Heller, Houghton Miflin Comapny (Boston, 1983). 225 pp., $15.95. REVIEWED BY GRETCHEN REISER At the end of Dr. John Heller’s book he describes a conference held in 1981 on the New London campus of Connecticut College. It brought together the team of (by then) celebrated scientists to report their findings on a technical study of the Shroud of Turin. They did so in completely professional fashion, much to the frustration of at least some in the audience, who repeatedly pushed them, singly and collectively, to say flatly whether or not the shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. The scientists didn’t and, in the opinion of Dr. Heller, a biophysicist who searched for minute traces of blood on fibrils from the linen cloth, science will always stop short of that statement. To him the question that can be answered by science is “Have you found anything that would preclude the Shroud’s being authentic?” Despite the work of 40 scientists who spent an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 hours on the project, the answer is no -- the image on the Shroud of a crucified man remains a mystery and one which is intriguing to a much wider audience than it was before science became involved. In Atlanta recently on a tour promoting his book, Dr. Heller said that he tried to present the “human side” of the story of a group of people - surprisingly young and m Bob Todd Gulf Gulf Tires Batteries Accessories AC Tune Up & Diagnostic Center Mechanic on Duty All Minor Repairs Lubrication Road Service Wheel Alignment Brake Work Tires Balanced Cars Washed 160 Ponce De Leon Ave. N.E. 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A then-28-year-old theoretical physicist, Dr. John Jackson, working at a U.S. Air Force laboratory in New Mexico, is the “scientific Pied Piper,” Dr. Heller says, who originally sparked the curiosity and enthusiasm of his colleagues in different scientific disciplines to examine the image preserved on the linen burial cloth. “Report on the Shroud of Turin” recreates, in part, the way in which the questions and energy of a few scientists, lured not by awe and reverence but by the scent of an enormously challenging project, snowballed into a cohesive team who had the unique opportunity in 1978 to examine the Shroud and subject it to the rigors of space age science. The book also points beyond the recollections of team members, however, to signs that something very unusual was at work. Dr. Heller notes that there was an exceptional spirit of cooperation, good will and unselfishness among team members, who helped one another and, by and large, submerged their egos to the overall good of the project. There was also a degree of suspiciously “coincidental” good fortune that overshadowed the team and met particular needs as they arose. The book is chock full of stories that show how financial crises were resolved at the eleventh hour and needs met providentially. However, a vibrant picture also emerges of gifted technicians plying their finest skills at a task that was simply too curious and wonderful a challenge to ignore. “It was so curious - it was that irresistible - what --1 don’t believe this -- it’s not true,” Dr. Heller said in an interview as he recounted the saga of his own rapid progression from dispassionate and highly skeptical observer to deeply involved researcher. Like the rest of the team members, his work consumed evenings, weekends, vacation time and his own financial resources. Like others, he became involved in the controversy which inevitably began to surround the Shroud study and which has affected the professional careers of some on the team. The book, however, does not dwell upon the cost team members paid for their involvement in the study of the Shroud, but upon the people, the basic research and, particularly, Dr. Heller’s role, with others, in searching for *. traces of blood on Shroud fibrils. That study brought him = into the heart of scientific controversy over the Shroud * research. ° C o Like his colleagues at the New London conference, he E does not ask science to answer the questions of faith. > However, he does bring the answers science can give to those who may be helped to step beyond im CLASSIFIEDS IDEAL PART-TIME JOB FOR MATURE LADY. 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